French Voters Shift to the Right in Mayoral Elections

PARIS — French voters dealt a blow to the government of François Hollande on Sunday, rejecting left-leaning candidates for local office in at least 155 cities while embracing more conservative politicians, including, in a handful of races, the extreme-right National Front party.

One bright spot for Mr. Hollande was in Paris, where Anne Hidalgo, the Socialist Party candidate, was elected mayor, becoming the first woman to serve in that job and one of a still small cadre of female mayors of large cities.

“I am the first woman mayor of Paris; I know the challenge this represents,” said Ms. Hidalgo, 54, who was born in Spain, moved to France as a toddler and became a citizen while a teenager.

“I will be the mayor of Paris, a city that never cheats its ideals or its honor,” she told supporters.

Elsewhere, however, the Socialists lost former strongholds like Toulouse and Limoges, as well as many smaller towns. Manuel Valls, the interior minister, announced late Sunday that the Socialists had lost at least 155 mayoralties in cities with more than 9,000 people. A rare bright spot for the Socialists was Avignon, a major tourist destination known for its prestigious summer arts festival. Just a week earlier it appeared that the far right was leading narrowly there.

The poor showing was expected to result in a cabinet reshuffle by Mr. Hollande and a change in prime ministers as early as Monday.

Economic troubles cast a long shadow over the elections, as Mr. Hollande’s efforts to reverse the trend showed few results even as overall confidence has begun to rise, according to some economic indicators. Unemployment is above average in several of the cities where the far right did well, including Hénin-Beaumont and Béziers, where the rate is close to 20 percent, according to economic surveys and the French government’s statistical agency, Insee.

Overall unemployment in France at the end of 2013 was about 11 percent, just below the European average of 12 percent, according to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Jean-Marc Ayrault, the current prime minister, gave a somber speech on Sunday evening as the votes were still being counted in some places. “Tonight is a moment of truth, and this is a defeat for the government,” he said.

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Anne Hidalgo, elected mayor of Paris, one of just a few wins Sunday for the Socialist Party.CreditPhilippe Wojazer/Reuters

“The midterm elections are an opportunity for citizens to send a message. This message is clear and must be heard,” he said.

Mainstream conservatives from the Union for a Popular Movement party expressed satisfaction with their party’s showing.

“The message that the French sent us this evening is very clear: They expressed a scathing rejection of the left,” said Jean-François Copé, the party’s leader. “The explosion of insecurity and unemployment was unbearable.”

The gains by the National Front were somewhat less dramatic than predicted last week by the party itself after the first round of voting for mayors and City Council members, but exit polls suggested that the party would end up with about 10 mayoral seats in cities of more than 10,000. According to the preliminary official results from the Interior Ministry, at least two of those victories were in sizable municipalities: Béziers, in the south, and Fréjus, not far from Marseille, with populations of 70,000 and 52,000.

The ministry also said that nationwide the National Front had elected 934 local council members. It had fewer than 500 previously, so this was a substantial increase and allows it to have a presence in a number of localities even where it does not have mayors.

Marine Le Pen, the party’s leader, gave a resolute speech in which she reasserted that “the National Front has been born as an autonomous political force.”

She added, “This is only the beginning,” alluding to the European Parliamentary elections that will be held at the end of May, in which her party is expected to do well. Senate elections will be held in September.

Béziers was won by Robert Ménard, who was endorsed by the National Front although he did not run as a party member. He is a former head of Reporters Without Borders who styles himself as a political maverick.

While the National Front lost the largest prize it was seeking, the city of Perpignan in southern France, with a population of 117,000, it won Fréjus with a young candidate, David Rachline. According to the Le Monde website, reaction to his victory led to clashes requiring the police to maintain order.

Nearly 64 percent of voters went to the polls on Sunday, the Interior Ministry said, a slightly lower percentage than in the second round of the 2008 municipal elections.

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